Ziehm Imaging SA has been awarded with the 2012 Africa Frost & Sullivan Market Penetration Leadership Award. Despite being relatively new to the market, Ziehm Imaging has rapidly increased its market share over the last years and has established itself as the leading supplier of devices for interventional radiography to the private South African hospital market.

Ziehm Imaging increased its installed base by approximately 42 per cent from 2007 to 2011, resulting in a market share rise from 19 per cent to 24 per cent. The installed base grew from 20 per cent to 39 per cent in this highly competitive market.

Ziehm Imaging, based in Nuremberg, Germany, with offices in South Africa, the USA, Italy, France, Finland, Russia, Brazil, China and Singapore, specializes in the development and production of mobile C-arms. Its sophisticated range of products caters to surgical needs across a diverse range of surgeries in the neurosurgery, cardio-thoracic, orthopedic and urological segments. Ziehm Imaging is also the leader in mobile flat-panel detectors which possess numerous advantages over conventional image intensifiers.

Ziehm Imaging leverages demonstrative C-arm devices as a key feature in the local branding and promotion strategy, resulting in strong grass-root level user preferences for the company’s products. “Ziehm Imaging’s use of demonstration models across its regional footprint is a primary reason that contributes to its success,” said Frost & Sullivan Industry Analyst Ryan Lobban. “Surgeons and radiographers that are exposed to the company’s offerings leverage their preferences to hospital and group procurement managers at the time of procurement.”

South African surgeons are also exposed to the C-arms through international conferences held by the company’s affiliate across Europe. A strong regional distribution and technical support network is a key success factor for servicing devices across both the private and the public sector installed bases.

Overall, the report concludes that Ziehm Imaging’s achievements in the South African mobile C-arm market have set the standard for domestic market penetration. The use of demonstration models and a strong regional technical support capacity remain the gold standard for other leading market competitors.

“We are very proud to receive the Frost & Sullivan Best Practices Award this year,” says Craig Löser, Business Manager at Ziehm Imaging SA (Pty) Ltd. “Our South African Business is still young, but we have been able to gain footprint in this highly competitive market over the last years, and we still have ambitious growth plans for the future. It is great to see our strategy acknowledged with such a prestigious award.”